The Seton Hall men’s basketball team defeated the Columbia Lions 95-71 at the Prudential Center on On Thursday night.
Leading the way for the Pirates was freshman Myles Powell who drained seven three-pointers and was one of four Pirates with 17 or more points.
Powell finished with a team-high 21 points including a remarkable 7-of-10 from behind the arc. Juniors Angel Delgado, Khadeen Carrington and Desi Rodriguez all tallied double figure nights.
“Once he got in shape he is one of the hardest working kids we’ve had,” Head Coach Kevin Willard said of Powell. “His work ethic has really, really helped him to be here. Once he lost all this weight, his game has transformed. He can play longer, he’s not just shooting threes, he’s getting to the rim, his game has really changed because he has worked so hard to change his body. Anybody that loses 45 pounds in 4 months has to be dedicated. Once I saw his dedication to his work ethic and how good he was, I sat there and said ‘the sky’s the limit for this kid’”
“I couldn’t miss,” Powell said. “I just let the game come to me. I just came off an 0-for-5, I guess you guys forgot about that one. But my teammates, coming into practice Tuesday and Wednesday, I wasn’t shooting the ball in practice and they pulled me to the side and yelled at me, Coach yelled at me and told me to keep shooting the ball. So coming into the game today with that mindset, it felt great that my teammates believe in me.”
Delgado picked up his third double-double of the season adding 11 rebounds to his 19 points.
The Pirates, who led by 10 at the half, shot lights out from the field in the second half, shooting 19-of-30 and holding Columbia to just 36 percent. Powell tallied four of his seven three’s in the second half.
The Pirates will now head to Honolulu for the Fox Spots Pearl Harbor Invitational. They will take on Hawaii on Dec. 6 and California on Dec. 7.